According to media reports, the family and lawyer of a man accused of the
murder of an Illinois pastor blame the man's deteriorating mental health on
longstanding Lyme disease.

The experts who spoke with WebMD have not reviewed the man's medical records
and are familiar with the case only through media reports. But speaking in
general terms, the experts reject the idea that violent behavior can be blamed
on Lyme disease.

"I don't know of any convincing evidence that Lyme disease can cause
violence or psychosis," Gary Wormser, MD, tells WebMD. Wormser is director
of the Lyme Disease Center and chief of infectious diseases at New York Medical
College in Valhalla, N.Y.

"We can be clear Lyme disease does not lead to psychotic and violent
behaviors," William Schaffner, MD, tells WebMD. Schaffner is
president-elect of the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases and chair of
preventive medicine and infectious diseases at Vanderbilt University in
Nashville, Tenn.

In an August 2008 article -- written before the alleged attack by Terry J.
Sedlacek -- the St. Louis Post-Dispatch chronicled the man's
decade-long mental health problems. The article suggested his symptoms were due
to Lyme disease.

But such "chronic" Lyme disease is "not a sound diagnosis"
for anyone, Schaffner says. Untreated Lyme disease certainly can go on for a
very long time. And Lyme disease damage doesn't necessarily go away with
treatment. But Schaffner says there is little evidence that prolonged
antibiotic therapy -- or other radical, unproven treatments -- benefits
patients.

"The history I've gleaned from the news reports suggests this man was
being treated for supposed chronic Lyme disease, a diagnosis that needs to be
looked at with great skepticism," Schaffner says. "If this was a
misfocused attention on Lyme disease, his real underlying problem was not given
attention and therapy. Because Lyme disease, in whatever manifestation, does
not lead to violent and psychotic behavior."

Wormser has actually looked for Lyme disease in Missouri, near the Illinois
border where the man was supposed to have contracted the disease.